Community mourns loss of young swimmer

Wednesday

Jul 17, 2013 at 5:34 PM

Lauren Cecil will be remembered for being a bright and kind girl who died doing what she loved to do: swimming.

BY SHARON MYERSThe Dispatch

Lauren Cecil will be remembered for being a bright and kind girl who died doing what she loved to do: swimming. The 11-year-old was electrocuted after an incident at Brookside Swim Club at 210 Queens Road on Tuesday evening. She was the only child of Lori and Keith Cecil of Lorven Drive.In a written statement, family members said she was a child who was loved as much as any child in this world could be loved.“Lauren was sunshine to her family and had a unique love for her family and friends. She loved anything to do with water, including fishing at the lake and her pet dog, CC,” the statement read.Marina Moore, girls' coach of the Brookside swim team, said everyone was still in shock and didn't want to accept the fact that Lauren was gone. Moore said that she remembers Lauren as a bubbly girl who always wanted to improve. “She was always excited about practice,” Moore said. “She took in everything you had to say and was very accepting of new things. She was really friendly and always had a smile on her face.”Moore said that Lauren's favorite events were freestyle and the breaststroke. Members of the Brookside swim team will participate in the countywide swim meet in Denton this weekend. Julie Rhodes, president of the swim club, said that Lauren's parents requested that the team compete in the meet.“They said it is what Lauren would have wanted because she loved being on the swim team,” Rhodes said. “We just wanted to do whatever they wished.”The Brookside team has decided to have LC, Lauren's initials, put on the side of their swim caps in honor of their missing member. Clay Vickers, the coach for the boys' team at Brookside, said Chad Hench, swimming coach at Central Davidson High School and father of one of the lifeguards who attempted to resuscitate Lauren, suggested the team wear her initials. Other swim teams throughout Davidson County have also discussed wearing the initials as well to show their support for the Brookside team.Lauren was attending swim practice around 8 p.m. Tuesday when an electric line adjacent to the area snapped and sent a high voltage current into the water of the pool.Rhodes said the team was finishing up swim practice when they heard a loud pop, and the electric wire on a utility pole, approximately 60 feet from the gate surrounding the pool, fell into the parking lot. “I sent the boys to check on the line and had told the three girls to get out of the pool,” Rhodes said. “They mentioned that the water felt weird. Two of them jumped out of the side of the pool, but Lauren grabbed the ladder.”Eyewitnesses said attempts to rescue her were hampered because the electricity continued to shock lifeguards who were trying to pull her from the water. They used a kick-board to safely pull her out of the water and immediately began performing CPR. They continued life-saving procedures until the Davidson County Emergency Medical Services arrived. Paramedics continued CPR while transporting Lauren to Wake Forest Baptist Health — Lexington Medical Center. She was pronounced dead on arrival.Three teenage lifeguards were on duty at the time of the accident and pulled Lauren from the pool. They were Lucas Rhodes, 15, Julie Rhodes' son; Caroline Burkhart, 17; and Jonathan Hench, 16. Lauren's mother was among the parents who were at the pool. The two other girls got out of the pool safely.Lauren was a rising sixth-grader who was to attend Central Davidson Middle School in the fall. Her fifth-grade teacher at Davis-Townsend Elementary School, Tanya McCarn, recalled Lauren as a very quiet and loving child who was very thoughtful of others. “She was a sweet soul who was always trying to help the other kids,” McCarn said. “Lauren was a very well-rounded student who enjoyed writing imaginative stories. This is a terrible loss for this community.”Steve Reynolds, principal at Davis-Townsend, said the entire staff sends its deepest sympathy to the family for their loss and joins in mourning the death of this young girl.“She was a sweet, wonderful child,” he said. “We enjoyed having her at our school, and she will be greatly missed.”The Davidson County Sheriff's Office, Davidson County Fire Marshall and the Davidson County Inspections Office are in the process of attempting to make a determination of what occurred. Davidson County Fire Marshall Brad Needham said that they are still investigating how the electric current got diverted into the water after the power line snapped. “The investigation is still in its preliminary stage,” Needham said. “We don't have a lot of information at this time.”Rhodes said that she was told the current from the fallen wire was somehow conducted through the cement to the water.Ron Triplette, inspections director for Davidson County, said that the electrical surge destroyed the pump motor, and the pool will be delayed reopening until the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Public Pool Division can inspect the pump and determine it is running properly under the public pools guidelines.

Sharon Myers can be reached at 249-3981, ext, 228 or at sharon.myers@the-dispatch.com.

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